Top News:
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Sky agrees to acquire ITV's TV business for £1.6B, uniting the UK's two largest commercial broadcasters; ITV says shareholders will receive £950M from the deal — Combination will leave US media group Comcast in control of a broadcaster that reaches 21mn households
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Dow Jones Newswires, The Independent, Daily Star, The Standard, The Guardian, Telegraph, Daily Express and The Sun
RELATED:
Deadline:
Sky strikes a £2.1B output deal with ITV Studios, ITV's production arm, until 2032; ITV Studios is not part of Sky's deal to acquire ITV's TV network — Sky has finally sealed a £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) deal to acquire ITV's television network operations.
Olivia Carville / Bloomberg:
A profile of Kaley Glenn-Mills, the plaintiff in K.G.M. v. Meta et al., who was awarded $6M in damages in a landmark LA jury trial over social media addiction — Kaley Glenn-Mills' lawsuit reshaped the fight to protect children from social media. She says she still can't stop scrolling.
Discussion:
Gizmodo, @livcarville, @livcarville, @business and @mattnavarra@threads.com
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Netflix is studying its data to see why viewers quit its shows after S1, with some shows seeing a 30%-70% S2 drop, as it faces a quarter without hits — Netflix's biggest hits are losing more than half of their audience after one season — Good afternoon from Los Angeles.
Discussion:
Spyglass, @johngary.bsky.social, @mhwilliams.bsky.social and NextBigWhat
Natalie Korach / Status:
An Interview with Onion CEO Ben Collins on the satirical outlet's Infowars takeover, reaction from Alex Jones' followers, content expansion plans, and more — Rather than wait for the process to play out, the satirical outlet launched its own parody version of the conspiracy platform last week …
Discussion:
@nataliekorach.bsky.social, Rolling Stone and Wired
Sejal Sharma / Hindustan Times:
India issues a notice to Telegram, asking it to curb the spread of pirated films and other copyrighted content, and seeks an action-taken report within 15 days — The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) issued a notice to Telegram on Saturday, asking the messaging platform …
Discussion:
MediaNama, BMI, The Economic Times, @internetfreedom, @internetfreedom, Times of India, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, NDTV, Moneycontrol, Inc42, India Today, Tech in Asia and Reuters
Nilesh Christopher / Los Angeles Times:
How ByteDance is making Hollywood inroads with its Seedance video generator, thanks to low pricing, striking realism, and features like timeline-based prompting — - 8 min Click here to listen to this article … - A viral AI video of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise sparked industry outrage …
Discussion:
Fortune, @carnage4life@mas.to, The Decoder and WeRSM
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
A look at ABC News' 24-hour Fourth of July programming marathon for the US' 250th anniversary, which it calls “the longest commercial broadcast in history” — From a light show and Brandi Carlile performance at the Statue of Liberty to a July 4 bash in Nashville …
Jake Kanter / Deadline:
A look at the UK's role in the Paramount-WBD merger: Paramount has said it remains confident of avoiding a “ticking fee” that would start at the end of Q3 — When David Ellison met with the UK culture secretary on January 15, Paramount may have been in Netflix's shadow …
Discussion:
NME, @toonhive, ScreenPower and Fortune
John Koblin / New York Times:
A look at Outside Tonight, a YouTube-based late-night talk show from Julian Shapiro-Barnum, who hosted the successful web series Recess Therapy — Julian Shapiro-Barnum, best known for a social media series called “Recess Therapy,” has started an online-only late-night show.
Discussion:
LateNighter
Peter Walker / The Guardian:
UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy says she and her department will stop using X because the site favors “abuse and misinformation over meaningful debate” — Culture secretary says her department will stop using platform, citing concerns over far-right content fuelling violence and division
Discussion:
@lisanandy, BBC, Variety, Telegraph, @glynmoody.bsky.social, @shakethescales.bsky.social, @JugglingWithEggs@mstdn.social, @sjjh@hachyderm.io, @wirralexpat.bsky.social, @ChrisMayLA6@mastodon.me.uk, @ewanmg.bsky.social, @tommorris@mastodon.social, @CelloMomOnCars@mastodon …, GB News, Deadline, The Independent, Financial Times, Reuters, HuffPost and UKTN
Matthew Weaver / The Guardian:
Three men have been found not guilty of murdering the journalist Lyra McKee in 2019; the New IRA claimed responsibility for the killing — McKee, 29, died after being hit by a bullet as she observed rioting in Derry in Northern Ireland in April 2019 — Three men from Derry have been found …
Discussion:
InPublishing, Leona O'Neill on LinkedIn, HoldtheFrontPage, Bobbie Johnson on LinkedIn, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, BBC, @rycbar32_, @rblackpa, Associated Press, National Union of Journalists …, @evansthecrime.bsky.social, TheDesk.net, Mirror, Derry Now, Belfast Telegraph, The Sun, Sky News, RTÉ, @louthforever.bsky.social and @saraita101.bsky.social
